Various Kids, A Coffin and An Organ
Various Kids, A Coffin and An Organ is a short film written and directed by Elliot Strange. Production It was made following the merger between his company Check Studios, Random Meats Productions and Laney/Novice Productions and serves as a promotional film for the newly formed Check Meats. The film was a collaboration between Strange, Dave Jeser and Matt Silverstein, and it features characters from shows they've worked on (Invader Zim and Golan the Insatiable.) Vasquez gave Strange permission to use various background characters and Gaz from Invader Zim in exchange for loyalties. Strange, being a fan of Drawn Together and Golan the Insatiable, was interested in collaborating with the creators of both. All four met and crafted a crossover film for a special presentation at Animation on Display. The film was exclusive to the showing, and it's not available online due to copyright issues. Summary It's a crossover featuring Dylan, along with Gaz and various side characters that appeared in Invader Zim. Each of them are forcibly sent to an isolated town inhabited by anthropomorphic dinosaurs (parody of The Land Before Time and Dino Digs) as part of a rehabilitation program. Desperate, everyone joins together to resurrect a notorious town criminal to kill a child that is worshiped by the community. Plot The special begins with Dylan and Golan driving away a typical suburban family (they wanted the house they bought to convert into a local fortress. In spite of the town not caring about what the two have done to said family, with some even condoning them for the act, Dylan is unknowingly set up for a mandatory retreat. While Golan is distracted, Dylan is snatched and thrown onto a school bus, where her pleas for help go unheard. She retreats to the back of the bus, where Gaz is present. The latter proceeds to tell her everything that's happening, where everyone on board is getting sent to what's known as Shaver Woods, an unknown community. Melvin snickers at the name and is shocked with a taser. The gang gets to know one another and they soon arrive at the community, which has few buildings and looks like it was made four centuries ago. Dylan sees what appears to be a switchblade near one of the buildings and as she goes to get it, a dinosaur lands in front of her, causing her and soon the rest to panic. The dinosaur introduces herself, and reveals that the town is inhabited by peace loving dinosaurs. The gang become confused and annoyed over this. Soon the other dinosaurs arrive and lead the gang into a musical number, which fails to sedate their anger. The dinosaurs proceed to take the gang on a tour of the city. Dylan mutters to herself, wishing that Golan was with her so that she could destroy the town. Gaz overhears this and she agrees that someone should destroy the town. The rest hear about this and they want to help in order to avoid being in the town any longer. They're led to a museum, where they find a contraption that consists of an old organ and a coffin. Gaz asks about it, and the lead dinosaur claims that it was used to summon a spirit known as Luke (or as the dinosaurs put it "evil personson") who wanted to destroy the town due to it not fitting his cynical nature. The other kids take a liking to Luke and Gaz further asks how it works. The lead dino claims that the only way to get it to work is to put someone in the coffin, play a song on the organ and sacrifice their body so Luke's spirit could be summoned and possess the nearest human. After the tour, the gang debates on which two individuals they should sacrifice in order to summon Luke. None of them want to comply, and Dylan attempts to bludgeon them, but then Susie and Lil arrive, taking part in a "big-buddy" program that's part of the retreat. Gaz brings up how she had to endure both girls while she was still part of Nickelodeon, which is enough to encourage Dylan to use them as sacrifices. At night, the gang kidnaps both girls. Dylan locks Susie in the coffin while Gaz and Zita bound and gag Lil, forcing her to watch. Dylan's about to perform the ritual, but the organ breaks. The gang is disappointed that their plan failed, but are reassured when they see a note on the back of the organ, where they could substitute the organ with a ritual dance set to every song on System of a Down's first album. They perform the ritual and Susie is sacrificed, with the spirit taking control of Lil's body. Luke proceeds to claim that he was the evil one all this time, but the gang doesn't care and they want him to destroy the town and kill the worshiped child, which he obliges to. The inhabitants are killed, and the town is set on fire. The worshiped child arrives and he tells Luke that he should be helping the town, rather than destroying it. Luke is supposedly touched by the boy's kindness, but the boy is decapitated by Dylan. As a result, the trees surrounding the town die out and the town becomes visible. The gang is discovered by Golan, who's with the rest of the Beekler family on the highway and they all go with them, a job well done. Trivia * The film uses music from System of a Down, Mushroomhead, Mr. Bungle and Korn. * Susie Carmichael and Lil Devile appear in the short and are played by their respective voice actors, even though Strange never asked for permission to use either character.